Hope you would have gone through my earlier posts of –
1. My introduction and about this comics book blog
2. Welcome Post
3. Mandrake the magician
So this one being only my fourth post on this blog, it makes sense that I continued the nostalgic journey with another epic comic book superhero character of the early 1930’s by Lee Falk. The series began with a daily newspaper strip on February 17, 1936, followed by a color Sunday strip on May 28, 1939.

Here again, as I mentioned in my earlier blog post, that Mandrake the magician is regarded as the first superhero by many comic book fans, The Phantom is also regarded by many comic book fans as the first Superhero in a costume without any actual superpowers who of course was followed by the ever iconic and legendary, all time and my personal favorite, Batman in May 1939 created by Kane and Finger.

At the peak of its popularity, this comic strip from Lee Falk was read by over 100 million people each day.

About The Phantom:

He has many nicknames: “The Ghost Who Walks”, “Guardian of the Eastern Dark” and “The Man Who Cannot Die”

Powers: He does not have any superpowers and his strength is intelligence and his reputation of putting fear in the hearts of his enemies as the ‘man who cannot die’ or the ‘ghost who walks’, thus being an immortal ghost.

The Phantom Comic Book Superhero

His Famous Signature: Is the Skull mark he leaves around the props across different places and on the faces and jaws of his enemies.

The very famous PHANTOM OATH:

The story of the Phantom started with a young sailor named Christopher Walker born in 1516 in Portsmouth. His father, was a seaman since he was a young boy, and was the cabin boy on Christopher Columbus’ ship Santa María. Both father and son sailed across the ocean in 1526.

At the age of 20, in 1536, their ship was attacked by pirates of the ‘Singh Brotherhood’ in a bay on the coast of Bengalla. Young Christopher fell unconscious into the sea but only after seeing his father being murdered by the leader of the pirates. Christopher was washed ashore on a Bengalla beach where he was found by pygmies of the Bandar tribe, who nursed him and took care of him. At the shores of this beach is where he finds the skull and he takes THE PHANTOM OATH:

“I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms! My sons and their sons shall follow me.”

His base is in the Deep Woods of Bengali and his home is the “Skull Cave,” deep in the heart of his jungle.

The Phantom has two helpers, a mountain wolf called Devil and a horse named Hero. He also has a trained falcon named Fraka.

Devil and Hero

MYSTERY: Even readers of ‘The Phantom’ comic book have never been shown the Phantom’s unmasked face clearly. When the Phantom leaves the jungle, he frequently dresses in a fedora, a trench coat, and sunglasses.

The Phantom

Few of The PHANTOM’s Famous Villains: Singh Brotherhood, Kigali Lubanga, The Python, Bail

After my first official Welcome post (Click here to read), I thought of starting a blog post today about a comic book that I used to read a lot as a kid during my early childhood days in the late 1980’s with the main character that had superhero powers.

Now the most amazing thing about the origin of this comic book character is that, he was a magician who had superpowers and I am talking about a time even before Superman!

Mandrake the magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk in 1934.

About Lee Falk: (April 28, 1911 – March 13, 1999), was an American writer, theater director and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strips The Phantom (1936-present) and Mandrake the Magician (1934-2013).

At the height of their popularity, these strips attracted over 100 million readers every day.

Mandrake the magician (Click to ENLARGE)

Mandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk, which began June 11, 1934 and has been distributed by King Comics.

The Main characters:Mandrake the Magician:

His trademark – His hat, cloak and wand, passed down from his father Theron which possess great magical properties.

His powers: Fast hypnotic technique which he gestures hypnotically. He is psychic and also has telekinetic powers. He can also turn invisible, shapeshift, and teleport periodically.

Few other main characters / plots / villains:Lothar – Mandrake’s best friend and crime fighting companion.

Narda – Princess of European nation Cockaigne. She made her first appearance in the second Mandrake story. Although she and Mandrake were infatuated with one another, they did not marry until 1997.

Karma – Lothar’s girlfriend, an African princess who works as a model.

Xanadu, Mandrake’s high-tech residence

Villains:
The Cobra, Derek, Ekardnam,The Clay Camel, 8 (8 is an old and very powerful crime organization originating in medieval times).